Lippman Heads Appellate Court For Manhattan

By RICHARD STEIER

Jonathan Lippman, who joined the state court system as a Law Assistant 35 years ago and worked his way up to become its Chief Administrative Judge, was appointed last week by Governor Spitzer to be Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department.

JONATHAN LIPPMAN: Continues his climb.

That places him in charge of the appellate court covering Manhattan and The Bronx after a record 11 years as the chief administrator for the court system. For the past couple of years he has also served as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Term for the Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts, which cover Long Island and Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland Counties.

Praised by Union

In a statement issued by the Governor's Office, Justice Lippman said he could imagine "no greater privilege" than his new job.

Court Officers' Association President Dennis W. Quirk said it was a privilege he had earned.

"He's been fair with the employees," said the leader of the state's largest union of Court Officers. "The guy's a workaholic - he puts in 16-hour days, seven days a week - and he deserves this. He came up through the system, starting as a lawyer, and went all the way to the top on merit, which is a good thing."

Mr. Lippman is a native New Yorker who grew up on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union's Cooperative Village, which his father managed while his mother was a junior high school English Teacher.

After getting both his undergraduate and law degrees from New York University, Mr. Lippman was a high school Social Studies Teacher in East New York from 1968 until he was hired by the court system in 1972. He rose steadily up the ladder and became Deputy Chief Administrative Judge in 1989 before being named the system's top administrator in 1996.